New York Times: California Drought Not from Global Warming

New York Times: California Drought Not from Global Warming:

"Martin P. Hoerling, a research meteorologist at the Earth System Research Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, wrote, “At present, the scientific evidence does not support an argument that the drought there is appreciably linked to human-induced climate change.” Hoerling observed that the severe nature of the drought has been observed before, in 1976 and 1977, and that there hasn’t been a notable change in California’s average precipitation since 1895.
Hoerling argued that the reason the drought is making so much news is that the demand for water has greatly increased. He added that other factors, such as the gap between rainy days and the intensity of the rains when they come, could affect the drought-like conditions. Hoerling suggested that examining soil moisture can give a clearer picture of how severe the drought is."